Improvement in stave-dressing machines



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. y

VALENTINE w. Houck, ory BUFFALO, NEW Youn.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,681, dated June 24, 1862.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, VALENTINE W. HoUcK,

' of the city of Buffalo, county of Erie, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stave-Dressing Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,- c1ear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure I is a side elevation of my improved machine. Fig. ll is a plan of the same. Fig. III is a cross-section on linel 2of Fig. I. Fig. IV is a longitudinal section.

Letters of like name and kind refer to like parts in each of the figures.

A A', B B', C C', and D D' represent four pairs of feed and pressure rollers, and which are also hereinafter distinguished as the second, third, fourth, and fifth pairs, the guide feed-rollers E E' being the irst pair. The upper rollers, A B C D, are concave and the lower rollers, A' B' C' D', are convex. The lower rollers have annular grooves a cut in them, and the Iillets between will indent into the stave sufficiently to cause it to feed perfectly straight.

' Eand E are guide feed-rollers. They are of greater diameter than `the others, and have straight surfaces, the lower one being flutedto increase its hold upon the stave. The upper roller, E, is made in two equal parts and placed upon the shaft so as to leave a space between them in order to admit aguidestop to project above the periphery, as hereinafter described.

F represents the main frame. It has jaws F' projecting upwardly to hold the journalboxes b2, in which the roller-shafts revo1ve.`

C2 are springs placed over the upper boxes to allow the upper rollers to yield for the passage of staves differing in thickness.

di are screws by which the pressure of the springs may be increased or diminished.

G is the main driving-shaft, having a driving-pulley, G', on one end,with a clutch, e2, on the same end,which clutch is operated by the levers e3, e, and e5, so that the operator may throw the machine in'and out of gear atpleasure.

f2 is a pinion on the opposite end of the drivingshaft, which gears with a spur-wheel, g2, having also a pinion, g3, on ythe same shaft. This pinion gears with the large spur-wheel g*- upon the end of the shaft of the lower guide feed-rollers. g5 9697 y* are spur-wheels on the ends of the successive lower feed-roller shafts, being all of the same size.

y is aspur-wheel which connects the wheel g* with the wheel g5, the proportion being such as to give the same surface velocity to all and each of the feed'rollers.

h h2 h3 are pinions connecting the spurwheels g5, gs, g', and gs, and giving the same motion in the same direction to the feederollers.

Ifrepresents Aspur-wheels upon the opposite allow for a vertical movement of the upper s Y feed-rollers. Y

H is a gate -in which the jointing-cutters are supported. This gate has a vertical movement on the guides J, which guides are bolted to the main frame between the third and fourth pairs of feed-rollers.

K is a curved bed-plate supported upon the cross-bars K', between the third and fourth pairs of feed-rollers. Its longitudinal curve is that of the bilge of the barrel, and its transverse curve is an arc of the circumference of the barrel at its bilge, (for which the staves are being jointed,) or nearly so. It is fluted exactly in line with the lower feed-rollers, so4 that the stave will pass in a direct line and be held to the action of the jointers without any side slip.

L represents a former-plate, of which there y is one for each different width of stave,.its under side being hollo'wed out to the exact curvature the stave isto have in the barrel. ,i

This plate is bolted to the bars Z', which bars have an eye in each of their ends, through which eyes four bolts, Z2, projecting upwardly from the cross-bars K', pass. Spiral springs Z3 are placed around these bolts, bearing uponthe ends of the bars Z and the nuts on the bolts, so as to give a yielding. pressure to the former-plate to accommodate diierent thicknesses of staves. The stave passes4 be,- tween the bed-plate and theformer, and is held by them for the action of the cutters.

M represents the jointing cutter-heads, one on each side of the former and bed-plate.

m2 'are cutter-head shafts,which have j ournalbearings in the boxes m3, above and below. The upper and lower boxes are connected by arms m4, which bend outwardly to give room for the revolution ofthe cutters. Flat arms m5 (strengthened by a feather) project downwardly from the lower boxes and are hinged by bolts m6 to the lower cross-piece of the gate near its center, so that the euttingedges of the knives will point to (or nearly so) the supposed center of the, barrelk The upper journal-boxes are connected and held firmly to the gate by bolts n', which pass through curved slots n2 in the upper crosspiece of the gate, (the centers from which the slots are described being the centers Vof the bolts m6.) By means of the adjusting-screws n3 the angle of the cuttersmay be changed (the bolts n being rst loosened) for diii'erent widths of staves, their cutting-edges always pointing to the supposed center of the barrel, (or nearly so,) and thereby giving the proper bevel to the stave. The gate (and with it the cutters) has an up-anddown vertical movement equal to half the bilge of the barrel, or thedifterence between the radius of the end and the radius of the center of the barrel, which movement is given by means hereinafterdescribed. The length of the knives (orcutters) is somewhat greater than their vertical movement, and their position upon their shafts is such 'thatthei'r lower ends will never passabove, nor their upper ends-below, the stave which is being jointed.

n* are driving-pulleys on the cutter-shafts.

O is a rockshaft supported by the hangers O,which are bolted to the main frame.

O'z is an arm held by a set-screw.

O3 is a short connecting-rod, which connects A the end of the arm with the center of the botis the difference between the longest and shortest radius of the barrel, and this radius is laid offen the other line. Two circular arcs are now drawn, (by a wellfknown problem,) each passing vthrough one ofthe last-Obtainedpoints and through both of the points first obtained. This will give the form of the cam.

P is a horizontal bar connected at one end tothe arm P2, at right angles to the arm O2, and

supported at the otherend bya vibrating rod p3. lt has a frictionwheel,p, in this end 11 against which the cam revolves. The motion of the cam is thus transmitted to the gate, and hence tothe cutters, through the bar P', arm j P2, rock-shaft O, arm O?, and connecting-rod O. y The arm `l?2 is slotted, so that the length of ihrk leverage may be varied, and consequently the rise and fall of the cutters varied .for dilerentq bilges of staves. It isV evident from the form*y ofthe cam that it will give two up and 'two` down motions to the gate and cutters at each i i revolution which it makes; rPhe weight of i the gate and cutters Willkeep the friction-f wheel in contactwith the cam during the de:` scent of the gate and cutters. j

The object of the combination of the with the rockshaft and levers, as described, 'By to carry the cutters so quickly past the tninnif tion-point (which transition-pointisWhenftho cutters are at thecenter of the stave) to joint the bilge of the stave on la true curve. In other machines the transition-.point is Il)` slow that the stave will have a forward move` ment of an inch or more .while the cutterspa the transition-point, andV hence therewill be" straightsurface of an inchuorA more onthe blgef curve of the stave. This is Ya serions objecf 3f tion, and Yto avoid this objectionthe-caln isi y made of peculiar shape and put intosaidconn\` bination. It accomplishes the, object in an J admirable manner. It carries thecutterspastq"` the y transition-,point instautlyand makes thel bilge on a true curve. lThis combinationijv also adjustable, so as to easily adapt the .cut` i tersto jointing staves for di'erent .'bilges of .j barrels. l i

Motion isgiven to the cam as follows: L `1 pinion, q, is placed upon the lower,guidefeetl roller shaft, and a spur-Wheel, {,upon theend of the cam-shaft, and a connecting-piniomq, communicates the motion of thefguide feed*- rollers to the cam.

When the machine Vis setfor -jointingstavv of any given length, it is evident that thgatn and cutters must have one up and one dom; .z movement while the stave is fed forward titl` length, and as each revolution `ofthe faillgives two of these .movements theconnectirgg lpinion q2 must be of such size as toallow tbn feed-rollers to move the stave Vforward `its whole length in exact timewithbne up lenti one down movement o f the jointinggcuttm" The pinion g2 is so supported upQnLthe-slotted arm g3 that it may be removed at pleasure and* another pinion used in :its iplacas().that by. substituting a pinion of the re 1uired-sizethe` vertical movement .of the gate ,and joiutiuf:` cutters may be timed .exactly to `correspond with the feed movement of .the stave, gnf hence the machine is Vadapted t to dressing staves of 'any required length. 'Ihecuttgsn` are set upon an angle correspondiugztojthe.im.` quired bevel of the stave, and the rise anddl of the jointing-cutters while jointing the stave will give the required bilge and taper, ,because kattesi l3 surface of the stave, and R is a pulley for driving the same. .It is located between the rst and second pairs of feed-roller.

r2 represents small pressure-rollers, one on each side of the cutter-head, for holding the stave to the action of the cutters. The second, third, fourth, and fth 'peirs of feed- Y rollers are placed upon a curve of decreasing radins, so that the stave will be gradually bent in its passage between them to the curve it is to assume in the barrel, suicien't allowance being made for what the stave will spring back after passing from the machine. The concavity and convexity of these rollers increase correspondingly for the purpose of giving the proper transverse curve to the stave. 3y these means the liability of splitting or breaking the stave inbending it to its required form is avoided.

lt is essential to the making of a perfect stave that it should be. fed to the jointing-cutters at such time that the center of the stave willreach the cutters at the moment they are at their lowest position, and consequently the ends of the stave will be jointed while the cutters are in their high est position, and the gradual rise and fall of the cutters will give the proper taper or bilge of the stave. It is also essential that the sta-ve should .be so fed to thc machine that its longitudinal center line will follow the longitudinal center line of the machine, bisecting the distance between the jointing-cutters. For this purposecI arrange upon the feed-table T 'a side guide-piece, U, which has a curvature corresponding to the curvature of the edge of the stave when listed The listed staves are assorted according to their different widths, and the jointing-cutters are set for running through a lot of a certain width. -The guide-piece U is connected at one end by a bolt, u', to an arm, u2, which arm is secured to the feed-table T by a bolt, u, passing through the slot uin the table. To the opposite end'of the guide-piece islconnected a rod, rv, which passes through an eye, nwhichprojects up from the table. An arm, c, is connected to this rod by ascii-screw,

. es, and a spring,l'o, which, pressing against the arm and the eye v, will press the guidepiece toward the center of the machine, it turning upon the boltvu at the opposite end. This guide-piece is set by moving the arm M in the slot and the arm c on the rod, so that when the listed stave is laid against it its center will correspond tothe center line of the machine. A cam', W, is. connected to the side of the feed-roller, which, as the feed-roller revolves and draws the stave in, will. strike the arm o and draw the guide away, so as to al-v low the center of the listed stave (which is wider at the middle than it is at the ends) to pass the point of the guide-piece and hold until the stave passes. force the guide back into place for the next stave. This guide-piece and the guide-stop insure the proper feeding of the stave to the machine.

A listed stave is one which hashad its edges clipped by a pair of'shears or cutters in its bilge or taper form. l

In order to insure accuracy in the delivery ofthe stave to the jointing-cutters at the proper time and motion, and in order to easily adapt the machine to jointing staves of different lengths, I have constructed the following device, which is easy of adjustment ,and accurate in its operations: The upper guide feedroller, E, is made in two equal parts, and these parts arev so placed upon the shaft as toleave a narrow space between them upon this shaft, and between the two parts o f thesaid roller I place a guide-stop, S. It is so constructed that it may' be turned round on the shaft, and by means of theset-screw S it may be fixed to the shaft, as desired. Within its main body is placed a coil-spring, Si, and stop-bar S5, the bar resting upon the spring in such a manner that it may be thrown outwardly by' the spring, so that it will projectuslightly above the periphery of the roller and form a guidestop, against which the end of the stave is placed when it is fed into the machine. The object of making this stop yielding (byfrneans of -the spring S2) 'is to adapt thermachineto jointing staves of greater length than the cir-` cumference of the guide feed-rollers, and so that by using two or more of these stops staves which are shorter than the circumference of the said feedrollers may be fed in without loss of motion. When two or more of these guide-stops are used for short staves, those of them which` are' not used for the stave which is passing in may, as they come round, strike upon the surface of the stave Without injury. The spring S2 will yield and allow the stop to slide up and pass over the 'surface without marrng the stave; and so,lalso, when a stave is jointed which is longer, than the circumfer.

ence-of the guide feedfroller, as the stop against which it was placed comes around and strikes upon the surface of the stave which has not yet passed through the feed-rollers it will yield and allow the stave jury.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

to' pass along without inl. The adjustable and yielding guide-stop S,

in combination withv thel guide feed-rollers -E E', for the purposes and substantially tis-.de-

scribed.

2. The yielding guide-piece U, in combina The spring o* will then tion with the cam-W, for the purposes and substantially as set forth. f

.3. The cam P, in combination with the bar vP', 'arm PF, friction-Wheel p, and vibrating rod p3 and rockshaft;` O, for the purposes and substantially as set forth.

4. Thel Curved bed-plate K, having Vflutes exactly corresponding to and placed inline with those of the lower feed-rollers, for' ghe. 

